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21 Feb ’12
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Developing countries are often slow to catch on to the benefits of recycling. Even countries like Costa Rica who love to claim to be Green are often only claiming to be so for the Tourism image/dollar.
As some of you know I reorganize companies big and small around the World mostly for free. Last week I was asked to look at and evaluate a Recycling depot run by and for women who have experienced abuse here in Costa Rica.
The Government was at the start very supportive of the idea and said to hire 20 people, they then proceeded to come and take the recycled products of value and not contribute funds back into the system. When people realized that the Government was just taking any profit possible from the center people stopped supporting the depot.
They are now down to five staff and struggling to stay open, let alone make a difference to landfill sites. They have some heavy equipment which was donated, a cardboard box strapping machine, a couple aluminum/plastic shredding machines which are all well maintained and working well. Outside of those pieces of equipment though it is basically a warehouse space set up to do sorting.
What I have been looking at doing first of all is setting up a public awareness day with a BBQ (donated meat from a butcher shop) and invite the TV stations in country which I helped in the past to come and give them some coverage. As things are now they can not even afford to make flyers to get the word out. They are just down the road from me and if I had not seen their make shift sign I would not have even known there was a recycling depot. My wife is into recycling but we stopped due to no place to drop it off at.
I could really use a hand with ideas for secondary products which can be made and sold for a profit which are made from recycled materials. They have to be things lower skilled people can make, made from recycled materials and have low start up costs to start production. More so it would be great if the products had a use which benefits the people of Costa Rica.
The main base materials are cardboard, plastic, glass, paper and metal mostly in the form of cans.
I have already reached out to a few of the companies like Delmonte who I see a fair bit of their products coming through the facility to have them get behind the project and get some free good publicity for nothing.
Depending on the projects I will put my own funds into the start up, one thing I have been working on is smokeless stoves. It was a separate project with Government involvement to supply stoves for the 23% of the country (250 000 households) that still cook with open fires in their houses using wood. This project might be moving to the facility along with all the welding and machining tools from my shop to ease and speed up production.
KVR had suggested I reach out here to the wealth of experience of the Boards for suggestions.
Could it be artisan projects made from recycled materials? Reworking materials for food production? Anything .... really but I do need the help with ideas. As this Women Group has worked so hard to try to bring employment to the community and make a difference in the community. Would hate to see them fail.
Sorry for the rambling frat and thank you for taking the time to read the above.
3 Nov ’12
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Best of luck Hessian! I lived in Costa Rica for a short time and I love the people there. I'll see what I can dig up regarding repurposing recycling materials. Hopefully we'll figure something out.
15 Feb ’12
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you're a good man hessian, there are a few projects going on in africa that sounds similar, let me see if I can find the info
15 Feb ’12
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Hess, we should figure out some type of write up
21 Feb ’12
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I am waiting to have a meeting with all the Ladies representing the Board. Need to know how political things are and who is Allied with who and what not still. Then I sure would appreciate help getting the word out thanks KVR.
If nobody minds I am going to throw out some ideas I have and hopefully they are things that bring people together as a community and are as close to full circle as possible in the goal of recycling.
Firstly with a soft launch, having a few of the new ideas in place and have a BBQ or something to bring out just the people of San Antonio de Escazu. Think locally, listen globally. Invites could be done through the local schools. Try and have the schools on Board with giving their recycling over to the depot. Some of them might not even have a recycling program. Politicians will be out in full force since there is a election run-off coming. Media covers politicians. Broken promises on tape do not look good down the road.
OK on to the fun stuff ... Ideas!
In no particular order:
:A 2 lt wicked planters. 2 lt soda plastic made into nutrient fed wick system for indoor or outdoor use. Recycled grow medium and I will even throw in seeds for people to choose from to have a ready to grow system just for dropping off your recycling. Donations accepted of course.
:Run a pickup system with all the schools that come on board with the program. We build a structure for drop offs at the school locations. Pick it up daily or what have you. Convenient for parents and if kept very clean can be a positive experience for dropping off your recycling.
:Have your pet spayed or neutered days. Some friends of ours down on the Pacific Coast run a program were you bring in your pet to get fixed. The clinics have been going on for years. I think their animal rescue program has been around for over 15 years now. Get Corporate sponsors from the pet industry (canned foods) and have a clinic at the depot. Great media and attention to the location, plus helps out people who would not otherwise be able to afford having the pets fixed.
:Manufacturer Smokeless Stoves, seems simple enough. If anyone has manufacturing quality diagrams or designs please share them. I have been stuck on prototypes for over a week. Have even thought of ordering samples from China or India to re-engineer. There has to be out there though proven designs. Geared towards providing for others instead of greed. Creates work in the community and some skill training in metal shaping/welding/sanding trades work which most women here would never experience outside of something like this. Media is limited unless linked as a Government program.
:Dog/horse etc food scoops out of bottles? Most everyone here at least keeps chickens.
:Now this one might seem silly but it came to me this morning. Already I like the concept. Full circle recycling, ..... back yard Bee Hives made from recycled materials. A gentlemen I met here is a guest from the US and a leading expert on Bee's and their importance to the systems of life. Could it be possible to link a project and help with pollination? As well as make a 3rd plus product from recycled materials? I need to check but they are probably like a non-profit classification legal wise. Donations accepted and they take no legal binding on mishaps?
Well thanks for letting me drop ideas and if anyone has links, drawings, videos, concepts anything which might help thanks in advance.
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